Every parent fears losing his or her child. Whether you're shopping at a department store, or visiting a theme park -- a lost child is a very real possibility.

A new iOS app, Lost Kidz, wants to help reunite parents with a lost child as soon as possible. iOS users can install the app and set up an account, free of charge, to receive alerts of missing kids nearby, based off of their iPhone's current location. The alert will contain a photo and information about the child to help you quickly identify, and reunite the lost child with his parents.

If you're a parent, you can sign up for a paid account, 99 cents per year, allowing you to send an alert should your child become lost.

Here's where you come in: in order for the app to be truly effective, you need to install it. The more users who have the free app installed and set up on their iOS device, the more likely the missing child alerts will be seen. It won't cost you anything but your time to set up your account and then you can hide the app in a folder and forget about it.

There is an Android version of the app in the works, and it should be released by the end of the year.